Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings
BOPF is the grade doing the most invisible work in the whole system. The majority of orthodox tea that ends up in a teabag rather than loose is BOPF, even though almost nobody buying the bag ever sees the letters.
What it is
A fannings grade, one size class below the broken grades, sifted small enough to brew fast and strong. Its full name places it in the Orange Pekoe family by pluck and 'fannings' by particle size.
Where you meet it
Inside the bag, literally. BOPF is the most commonly used orthodox grade for teabag packing, ahead of every whole-leaf or broken grade combined for that purpose.
How to read it
Read BOPF as evidence that small particle size is a design choice, not a defect. A teabag needs a fast, strong infusion in a couple of minutes, and that is precisely what a fannings-size particle gives.
A common mistake
Assuming teabag tea is automatically inferior tea. The particle size is chosen for the brewing method, and BOPF grades tea from ordinary to genuinely fine leaf, all sifted to the size the format needs.
Sources
- BOPF (Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings) is the most commonly used orthodox grade for teabag packing. Heiss & Heiss, The Story of Tea (2011)